VOICE OF EXPERIENCE: 45 life lessons everyone should know

If you’re looking for some lessons from the voice of experience, then I’ve been on this earth long enough to have learned quite a few.

Usually, I share these lessons on my microblog, otherwise known as my X feed.

However, today I thought readers might be interested to read some of my more recent observations about life and the human condition.

So here are 45 life lessons I’ve learned, many the hard way, and I hope you find them interesting and useful.

Please feel free to share them with your friends.

Lessons from the voice of experience (1-10):

On Spaceship Earth, we’re all crew.
People believe what they want to believe.
Visibility matters. Personal PR is essential.

We’re all products of the choices we make.
Life is life, and we cope with it as best we can.
You can listen to the wise or let adversity teach you.

You’re not committed to anything until you start taking action.
Don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Your voice matters.
If you don’t go for it, then you won’t get it. Not unless you’re lucky.

Create your own job, and you’ll never be threatened by layoffs again.

Lessons from the voice of experience (11-20):

A question asked does not imply an obligation to provide an answer.
Your future’s yet to be written, but the good news is that you’ve got the pen.

Political power derives from a group of like-minded people acting as one.
Income does not determine your wealth if you keep spending more than you earn.
You won’t regret the things you didn’t buy, but you may regret the things you didn’t do.

Focus on where you’re going, not where you’ve been. What’s ahead is what matters most.
Differentiate yourself from the competition. You won’t stand out if you’re just the same as everyone else.
Your years on this earth will teach you far more than you could possibly learn in any school, college, or university.

What you get out of life will be in direct proportion to what you put in. You’ll get very little out if you’ve put nothing in.
If you don’t use it, don’t let it go to waste. Sell it. Someone else can use it, and you have a little extra money in the bank.

Lessons from the voice of experience (21-30):

A promotion at work is not a reward for what you’ve done in the past; it’s an opportunity to show what you can do in the future.

Just because they seem nice doesn’t mean they are nice. Don’t be too trusting of people you barely know. Trust must be earned.
Ridiculous notions take root because the silent majority don’t have the guts to say, “No! I’m not playing that game.”
Happiness is a state of mind. It’s finding a little joy in everything you do. Life’s challenges are there for all of us. Don’t let them steal your joy.

We’ll keep making the same mistake until we learn the lesson the mistake was intended to teach us. Life is a classroom, and the lessons never stop.
No one is right all the time, and it would be unwise to assume otherwise. So listen carefully to others before deciding on what you think may be right.
If you want to make money, be the solution to someone’s problem. There will always be people with problems willing to pay someone to provide a solution.

Never use other people just so you can feel better about yourself. Help people by all means, but out of genuine benevolence rather than your own self-interest.
When others do unspeakable things that hurt you, the best revenge is to move on and enjoy your own happy life. Show them you don’t need them; it’ll drive them nuts.
Real friends are people you could call at 3 a.m. if you were in trouble, and know they’d be willing to help you. Internet friends are nothing more than digital acquaintances.

Lessons from the voice of experience (31-35):

We all want to be someone or something else, but we can only be the people we are and deal as best we can with the cards life has dealt us. Frustrating as it may be, that’s life.
If society’s direction of travel is not to your liking, then make your voice heard loudly, in collaboration with like-minded people. If enough people speak, things can change.
It’s for us to give our lives meaning. Our aim should be to leave a legacy by doing something that will add value to the lives of others and make the world a slightly better place.

You can eat well, sleep well, get regular exercise, and drink plenty of water, but you’re still going to die. So make sure you enjoy life while you can, and don’t be too obsessed with healthy living.
Never let anyone tell you how you should think. Think for yourself and draw your own conclusions. No one has a monopoly on knowing what’s best. Your opinion is just as valid as the next person’s.

Lessons from the voice of experience (36-40):

Remaining loyal to the circumstances into which you were born is not a noble act. It’s perfectly reasonable to want more out of life. Just because you were born poor doesn’t mean you must remain poor.

Never, ever put anything in print that you wouldn’t want coming back to haunt you later. If there’s a record there’s always a chance that someone could use it against you when it suits them to do so.
In a civilised world, physically attacking people is unacceptable, of course. So when we’re upset with others, we attack them with words. We lob ‘word bombs’ at them in the hope we’ll hurt them that way.
To remain silent is to be irrelevant. A quiet life will come at a cost to you. The cost is that people with louder voices are moving the world in a direction you may not like. Speak up, or live with the consequences.

Those with an unshakable belief in the virtue of their own opinions will never be swayed by contrary opinions expressed by others, regardless of how much evidence is offered in support of those opinions.

Lessons from the voice of experience (41-45):

Unkind speech is not the same as hate speech. Much of what is often described as hate speech is just people saying things that are unkind and even deeply unpleasant, but they’re not necessarily rooted in hate.
The game of Monopoly tells you all you need to know about getting rich. Use the money you have to buy assets that will generate income. Use that income to buy more assets to generate more income to buy more assets to generate even more income. Keep repeating the process, and you’ll get rich.

Ideological positions don’t have to be accepted without question. They can and should be challenged. If they have sufficient merit they’ll withstand a challenge. If they don’t, they’ll fall, as they should. Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by ideologues.
The university system has become a racket. Unless your ambition is to secure a job for which a degree is mandatory, you’re wasting your time and money by going to university. You’re unlikely to get a return on the debt you’ll incur. Consider your options carefully.
Successful relationships are underpinned by friendship, and friendship is a relationship of equals. Both parties must feel they’re getting what they need from the relationship. So before asking, what can a potential partner offer me? Ask yourself, what do I have to offer a potential partner? If the answer is nothing positive, don’t be surprised if you struggle to find a partner.

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